Knowledge needed to graduate to next level

Mating in 1 move in positions with many pieces on the board. Mating with king and queen or rook. Spotting and defending unprotected pieces. The rule of the square and what it means in the endgame. Double attack, fork, pin. Basic opening principles (piece development).

Improvement Guide Articles

Here are some articles by GM Alexandra Kosteniuk and chess guru Steve Lopez on how best to improve at chess from different levels. You can come back to this main page anytime.

Recommendations Playing – Analysis – Database Software

Chess King Software (for players 200 to 1600 ELO)

Chess King is a complete chess package and very easy to use, suitable for a wide range of players, from beginners to intermediate players. There are lots of modes, from solving puzzles and quest games, playing Classical Chess, Analyzing games with the engine Houdini, a huge GigaKing game database, and complete Chess Opening Tree.

Recommendations Peshka Interactive Courses Software

Recommendations Video Instruction

It would be a good review to watch the Complete Chess Course 3 DVD combo and the Chess Opening Ideas video DVD’s.

Complete Chess Course (for players Unrated to 1400 ELO)

The Chess King’s Complete Chess Course is the quickest and easiest way to learn the chess basics, the patterns, tips, strategies, techniques which will turn you from a beginner into an accomplished chess player. The DVD video format makes it simple to improve your chess. Just watch, listen and learn. This Course is a fountain of knowledge for parents and coaches. The set contains close to 5 hours of structured instruction with over 100 ready-to-use examples of sound chess fundamentals. Recommended for players Unrated to 1500 Elo. Disk 1: Opening Principles disk. It demonstrates that you don’t need to try to memorize hundreds of opening variations as long as you play the opening by following common basic ideas. You’ll learn all about fast development, centralization, mobility, and defense, all of which will help you get a good position which will lead directly into a playable middle game. Disk 2: Tactics and Strategy disk. You’ll discover a variety of tactical weapons that you could use over and over to win material and gain an advantage over your opponents. You’ll also learn all about chess strategy, plans and formations that will provide you with a lasting edge. Disk 3: Endgames disk. When few pieces are left on the board, knowing the proper procedures can spell the difference between victory and defeat. In this DVD, you will be introduced to the most common chess endgames. Knowing these key concepts and positions will increase your success in your tournament practice and will allow you to convert a material advantage into a win. You will learn about opposition, triangulation, Philidor and Lucena positions, and more.

The DVD from Women’s World Chess Champion and Chess Queen Alexandra Kosteniuk about Blitz Chess. Alexandra gives many tips on how to play better blitz chess and shows 8 of her sensational wins from the 2009 World Blitz Championship, where she beat World #1 Rated Magnus Carlsen, World Champion Vishy Anand, and super Grandmasters Gashimov, Aronian, Morozevich, Grischuk, Judith Polgar, and Naiditsch. All games are fully commented with simultaneous live screens and and 2D boards.

KOSTENIUK WOMEN’S WORLD CHESS CHAMPION

Exclusive DVD with over 3 hours of commented games and movies by the 12th World Chess Champion in the history of Chess Alexandra Kosteniuk. Every single game she played in Nalchik to win the World Title commented in detail in her own voice. Includes an exclusive full-length documentary of the 2008 Women’s World Championship narrated by Alexandra.

ALEXANDRA KOSTENIUK BEST GAMES

Alexandra comments in detail the 10 best games of her career, and mentions why she thinks they were important for her development as a chess player.

Recommendations Android apps

Check out our Chess King Android Apps on the Play Store.
We have more than 20 Android Chess apps and more come out every week. Already more than 1 million downloads. All courses are free downloads and provide sample theory and exercises. If you like the course, you can buy the full course.

This course is based on a bestseller by the experienced coach Sergey Ivashchenko which became a sort of chess publishing sensation and sold over 200,000 copies. More than 1300 training exercises are intended for beginners, both children and adults. Elementary and simple tasks (1-, 2- and 3-way) are used as teaching material.
The program allows you to test your knowledge, see changes in your rating and keep track of your progress.

This teaching program is a kind of guide. It will introduce you to the rules and laws of chess and let you work your way of improvement from the level of Beginner to the one of Club Player.
In the course 100 chess topics are considered including rules of chess game; methods of playing in opening, middle game and ending; combinational techniques and basic elements of strategy. All in all, the course contains 500 teaching examples and 700 exercises useful for consolidation of acquired knowledge.

If you are a beginner, you should practice much to mate in one move. This course provides excellent material for this training. The big number of exercises (2500) covers different methods of mating. Many of them is an excellent tool for speed training even for stronger players. This is a rare course that is intended even for players with USCF rating of 600. Even if you only study and solve 10% of the exercises, you will learn a huge number of mating patterns and probably never miss a mate in one again!